"We resolutely reject": how Moscow responded to Washington's statement about the possible "disinformation" of the Russian Federation on the dialogue in Geneva

The Russian Embassy in the United States firmly rejected the White House's statement that Moscow could allegedly misinform the public about the talks in Geneva with American partners.

The diplomatic mission announced this on its official Facebook account.

“We resolutely reject such insinuations.

Russian official statements are completely true.

From the very beginning, our country has demonstrated maximum transparency with regard to this dialogue, ”the Russian embassy stressed.

As the diplomats noted, the proof is the fact that Moscow has published the draft treaty between Russia and the United States on security guarantees and an agreement on security measures for the Russian Federation and NATO member states.

Recall that on December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published these documents on its website, having previously transferred them to the American side.

In the draft documents, in particular, it is said about the rejection of further expansion of NATO, including at the expense of the former republics of the Soviet Union.

As for the consultations between the United States and Russia that took place in Geneva, the Russian embassy said that they expect "mutual openness" from the United States.

“We urge our colleagues to stop unreasonable speculations about their consulting partners.

Moreover, such an approach testifies to the degradation of the culture of negotiation, ”the Russian diplomatic department noted.

Earlier, White House spokesman Jen Psaki announced the preparation of the United States for the allegedly possible spread of disinformation on the part of Russia regarding the course of the Russian-American talks in Geneva.

“We are preparing for the possibility and the likelihood (I must say, no one should be surprised) that Russia will spread false information about obligations that have not been taken (as a result of the negotiations.

), or will go even further and arrange a provocation as a pretext for the continuation of destabilizing activities ", - said Psaki, urging those present" not to succumb to the imposition of disinformation. "

Commenting on the statement by the press secretary of the White House on the air of Solovyov LIVE, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that it "evokes only sympathy."

“Still, a great people, excuse me, a great country.

And when it is at the mercy of people who are not very good at the material, to put it mildly, and do not feel responsibility for the words they say, this evokes deep sympathy, perhaps also regret, "Zakharova emphasized.

In a video message published on her Telegram channel, Maria Zakharova emphasized that Psaki's “numerous, inappropriate” statements cause “sincere regret.”

“We advise a colleague not to forget to use critical thinking and carefully double-check at least the most important subjects.

Just so as not to show the whole world their incompetence, ”said Zakharova.

Negotiation process

We will remind, on January 10 in Geneva, negotiations between Russia and the United States on security were held, which lasted almost eight hours.

The dialogue took place in a closed format at the Permanent Mission of the United States to the UN Office in Geneva.

The Russian delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov and Deputy Head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Alexander Fomin.

The United States was represented by First Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

At a press conference following the talks, Ryabkov said that the conversation was "difficult, long, very professional, deep and specific."

He also noted that the Russian-American dialogue took place "without attempts to embellish anything, to bypass any sharp corners."

• Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov

• RIA News

• © Alexey Vitvitsky

The results of the talks between Russia and the United States in Geneva are also mentioned in the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

It is noted that during the conversation, two draft documents on security assurances concerning Moscow, Washington and the North Atlantic Alliance, handed over to the United States by the Russian side, were discussed in detail.

“The Russian side emphasized the need to ensure the legal, legally binding nature of the relevant guarantees, first of all, the inadmissibility of further NATO expansion,” the ministry said in a statement.

In turn, the White House called the talks between Russia and the United States on security frank and straightforward. 

Let us recall that in addition to the consultations between the Russian Federation and the United States on security guarantees that took place in Geneva, meetings of the Russia-NATO Council on January 12 in Brussels and the OSCE Permanent Council on January 13 in Vienna are also scheduled this week.

"Create information background"

According to the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, the position expressed by the press secretary of the White House after the talks in Geneva is "akin to what the military calls a preemptive strike."

“That is, nothing has happened yet, but the blow has already been delivered.

And in this sense, the United States is trying to reserve a position that would not allow any deviations from what was really voiced in these negotiations.

But Russia was not going to and is not going to pass off wishful thinking, "the expert emphasized in a commentary on RT.

According to Rogulev, the United States, absolutely groundlessly allowing any disinformation from the Russian Federation, does not want to look like a retreating side in the eyes of its citizens, allies and the world community.

“This is exactly what the United States is afraid of.

If they felt the strength behind them, then there would be no sense in any preventive strikes.

But there is a certain weakness in Washington's position, which he wants to disguise, ”the analyst said.

In turn, as Vladimir Bruter, an expert from the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, said in an interview with RT, after the talks in Geneva, the White House decided to deliberately publicly question the decency of the Russian side, declaring the possibility of some disinformation in order to create a certain information noise, which was would be beneficial to Washington.

“The United States comes up with such assumptions, the next" horror stories ", while Russia is acting very transparently.

Moreover, Moscow has clearly and clearly stated its position on the outcome of the talks in Geneva, what could have been lied about there?

But Washington needs to artificially create an informational background in which their positions will seem more advantageous, ”the analyst said.

According to Bruter, by publicly admitting disinformation from the Russian Federation, the White House is not only showing disrespect to its Russian colleagues.

"In the Russian language there is such a phraseological unit:" On the thief and the hat is on fire. "

Its essence is that the guilty person exposes himself.

Otherwise, on what basis is Washington showing an extreme degree of mistrust?

Of course, the statements of the parties following the talks may differ - each country has its own priorities in what was discussed.

But what is more important is what the negotiators put emphasis on when making their statements, ”the expert noted.

Bruter also believes that ahead of a new series of talks with NATO and the OSCE, the US wants to "awaken public opinion and the media."

“Washington intends to create the impression that Russia really wants something different from what it said.

In addition, in this way they are trying to drag out negotiations, despite the position of the Russian Federation on the need to receive a quick and principled response from the United States and NATO to its proposals on security guarantees.

At the same time, Washington wants to transfer the dialogue to the plane that was not originally planned, ”the analyst said.

• AP

• © Andrew Harnik

This approach of the United States may negatively affect the course of further contacts between the Russian Federation and the United States, including through NATO and the OSCE, said Vladimir Batyuk, chief researcher at the Institute for the United States and Canada.

“The behavior of the White House creates a not very favorable background for further negotiations between Moscow and Washington on European and world security issues.

In general, reviews of the talks from the Russian and American sides were initially moderately optimistic, but this incident with Psaki makes one think about the prospect of negotiations on the NATO and OSCE tracks, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

Batyuk also added that with the attitude that is now observed in Washington, it is difficult to count on a significant rapprochement of the positions of the two countries.

However, the analyst believes that the public display of mistrust towards Russia on the part of the White House is caused more by internal political reasons than by the content of the negotiations and the final statements of Moscow after them.

“The reason is that the Biden administration is under strong pressure, there are many people in the United States who are unhappy with the fact that this dialogue with Russia is going on at all.

And the administration is forced to somehow react to this, hide behind such behavior, ”concluded Batyuk.